Comments about ‘Lawmakers consider changes to State School Board elections’

The picture accompanying the story is of the Canyons School District Board of
Education (before the last election). The story/article is about discussions to
change the way members of the State Board of Education are elected.
Wouldn't a picture of the State School Board have been more appropriate?

Regarding the way current members of the State School Board are
elected...My State School Board member is Dave Crandall. He is a Charter
School advocate, and serves on the board of a Charter School in Draper.
Governor Herbert gave us the choice of voting for him or a lady from Riverton,
who was very involved in her Charter School. In other words, we only had the
choice of voting for Charter School enthusiasts.

I know many people
think Charter Schools are a good thing, but many do not. Our area was not given
the opportunity to make that distinction, because our Governor, who is a Charter
School advocate, made sure our area was represented by someone who aligned with
his views on this topic.

I am of the opinion that the current method
of selection is not the best way to determine who is on the State School Board.

Some say that partisan elections will give more information about the
candidates. The only information that partisan elections will give to voters
that they don't have now is the R or D behind a candidates name.

School Board elections should remain non-partisan and it should be changed so
that it is open to all who apply to run from each elective State School Board
district. Potential candidates should not be narrowed down to two candidates by
an ad-hoc committee. That means there will be a primary election in each
district, but so be it.

Making it a partisan election would be a
“no value added” decision and should be rejected.

Having a voice is what this article is about and I am all for the proposed
changes to remove the Governor from the board selection process. This board is
nothing more than a thank you to contributors of the governemnt campaign
financing. It is deemed a menial job by governemnt standards but a well paid
position with ever increasing powers as its own independent government
expands.

Since this board is made up of legislative and governor
buddy network of business owners its also used to funnel illegal funds through
the education budget to special interest as corporate gifts.

The
board should not have retired triple dipping school teachers and educators on
the panel, it should be an independent anonymous panel with no vested special
interest or financial ties to education.

The board like all
government representation should be varied and wide and non partisan. It is a
board of elected representatives of the people and should be held accountable to
the people and not the governor.